Saturday, 10:30 am: I thought this might be a “take it easy weekend” but it’s lightly snowing. Unfortunately somewhere in the back of mind I see shoveling and firing up our snow blower in my immediate future. In the meantime I am listening to oldies on my computer. Remember the novelty songs from the 1950s? What happened to Hi-Fi and pleasantly scratchy AM radio? Everything that was analog has become digitized. Now with new technology I am contemplating the upcoming release of Windows Vista: Should I or shouldn’t I? Windows XP seems to work just fine and I am used to it; now new stuff.

Ruth and I are planning on a trip to Europe next spring. We are trying to work out the logistics of using our frequent flyer miles. Ruth wants to visit her aging family in Berlin, and I want to go straight to the Alps. I think our rental car will be zooming from one end of Germany to the other on the Autobahn. When traveling that far, visiting relatives is not a destination for me; it just a side trip for a day or two. I might be outvoted by my wife. Ah, democracy in action again.

Long john weather is definitely here, and I finally put them on, and the goose bumps on my legs magically disappeared. Back to listening to Rosemary Clooney and Perry Como from days gone by, and a 3-alarm cup of espresso. That’s a real eye-opener!

Current values from our wireless Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 15.6° (F.)

Barometer: 29.998 & steady

Humidity: 78%

Wind: SSW at 7 mph light & variable

Visibility: < 1 mile

Skies: 100% low overcast

Precipitation: lightly snowing

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 1.6° (F.) at 3:06 am

High wind: 8 mph at 10:01 am